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Largest airlines in the world

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The largest airlines in the world can be defined in several ways. As of 2023, Delta Air Lines is the largest by revenue, assets value, fleet size, and market capitalization; American Airlines Group by passengers carried, revenue passenger mile, number of employees and destinations served; FedEx Express by freight tonne-kilometers; Ryanair by number of routes; and Turkish Airlines by number of countries served.

By financial performance edit

 
Delta Air Lines ranks first by revenue, total assets, market capitalization, and brand value.
 
American Airlines Group ranks first by number of employees and passengers carried.

Revenue edit

Forbes' world's biggest public airline companies by revenue (as of January 2023)[1]
Rank Airline Country Revenue Profit Assets Market
cap. 		Employees
(US$ billions)
1 Delta Air Lines   United States 53.99 1.90 73.13 21.81 95,000
2 American Airlines Group   United States 52.26 1.77 66.79 9.05 129,700
3 United Airlines Holdings   United States 48.82 1.92 70.42 14.7 92,800
4 Lufthansa Group   Germany 35.8 0.94 48.79 12.10 109,509
5 Air France–KLM   France/  Netherlands 29.41 0.97 34.81 4.12 78,950
6 Southwest Airlines   United States 24.83 0.65 35.55 17.65 66,000
7 International Airlines Group   Spain 24.28 1.15 41.95 9.41 66,044
8 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 19.68 2.79 32.00 8.88 40,264
9 China Southern Airlines   China 12.92 –4.81 44.92 12.54 100,431
10 Air Canada   Canada 12.72 –1.31 21.78 5.33 42,916

Note that Emirates is a state-owned company, and is thus not included in this list of public companies. Its 2023 revenue was estimated over 29.2 billion USD, which would have had placed the company into 6th place. 2021's over 18 billion USD and 5th place. Its 2014-2015 revenue was Dhs. 88.819 billion (US$24.2 billion), profit Dhs. 4.555 billion (US$1.24 billion), and assets Dhs. 111.362 billion (US$30.34 billion), with 56,725 employees. Qatar Airways Group is similarly privately held with 2023 revenue of nearly 21 billions USD placing it into the 9th place (with Emirates included) above the Turkish Airlines.

Brand value edit

Largest airlines by brand value (US$ billions) according to Brand Finance (2023)[2]
Rank Airline Country $bn Year-to-year
change
1   Delta Air Lines   United States 8.922 +21.8%
2   American Airlines   United States 8.488 +35.5%
3   United Airlines   United States 7.782 +41.9%
4   Emirates   United Arab Emirates 5.104 +2.4%
5   Southwest Airlines   United States 4.703 −4.6%
6   China Southern Airlines   China 3.229 +39.5%
7   China Eastern Airlines   China 2.852 +25.7%
8   Air China   China 2.603 +9.3%
9   Air Canada   Canada 2.584 +2.9%
10   Qatar Airways   Qatar 2.470 +22.6%

By flight volume edit

Passengers carried edit

Millions of passengers carried
Rank Airline Group Country 2022[3][4] 2020[5] 2019[6] 2018[7] 2017[8] 2016[9] 2015[10] 2014[11] 2013[12] 2012[13] 2011[14]
1 American Airlines Group   United States 199.3 95.3 215.2 203.7 199.6 198.7 146.53 87.83 86.823 86.335 86.042
2 Delta Air Lines Group   United States 175.0 80.0 204.0 192.5 186.4 183.7 138.842 129.433 120.636 116.726 113.731
3 Ryanair   Ireland 168.6 52.4 148.6 142.1 130.3 119.8 101.401 86.370 81.395 79.649 76.422
4 Southwest Airlines   United States 157.0 67.8 162.7 163.6 157.8 151.8 144.575 129.087 115.323 112.234 110.587
5 United Airlines Holdings   United States 144.3 57.8 162.4 158.3 148.1 143.2 95.384 90.439 90.161 92.619 50.473
6 Lufthansa Group   Germany 101.8 36.4 145.2 142.3 130.0 117.4 115.2 112.5 110.4 108.9 112.0
7 IAG   Spain 94.7 31.3 #12 118.3 112.9 104.83 100.7 94.9 77.3 67.2 54.6 51.7
8 Air France–KLM   France/  Netherlands 83.3 28.9 #14 85.6 #12
9 IndiGo   India 75.3 35.0 #11 61.9 #16
10 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 71.8 28.0 #17= 75.2 #14
China Southern Air Holding   China 62.6 #12 96.9 151.6 139.9 126.3 84.9 109.301 100.683 91.504 86.277 80.545
China Eastern Air Holding   China 42.5 #17 74.5 130.2 121.1 110.8 80.9 75.139 66.174 62.653 79.61 73.1
Air China Group   China 38.6 #24 68.7 115.0 109.7 101.6 96.5 89.8 83.0 77.7 72.4 69.4
Hainan Airlines Group   China 21.0 #39 37 79.9 #13

Scheduled passenger-kilometers flown (millions) edit

 
American Airlines and United Express aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport
Airline holding groups
Rank Airline Group Country 2022[3] 2021[15][16] 2020[5] 2019[17] 2017[8] 2016[18] 2015[19] 2013[20]
1 American Airlines Group   United States 347,221 259,570 147,746 388,254 364,191 ~359,400 358,823 ~206,500
2 United Airlines Holdings   United States 332,997 207,572 118,878 385,211 347,963 ~328,200 335,728 ~287,200
3 Delta Air Lines Group   United States 314,783 216,766 118,120 382,400 350,299 ~342,600 337,264 ~278,000
4 Air France–KLM   France/  Netherlands 237,567 116,104 81,212 275,500 248,476 ~238,200 235,715 ~228,900
5 Emirates   United Arab Emirates 225,867 93,799 #11 78,746 298,000 292,221 ~270,800 255,176 ~209,300
6 International Airlines Group   UK/  Spain 215,749 78,689 #15 72,262 285,800 252,819 ~243,500 221,996 186,304
7 Lufthansa Group   Germany 207,035 89,397 #13 69,462 296,500 261,156 ~226,600 220,400 ~153,400
8 Southwest Airlines   United States 199,425 166,667 87,242 211,379 #11 207,802 ~200,700 189,057 ~167,800
9 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 162,665 153,200 #15
10 Qatar Airways   Qatar 154,372 172,600 #13
Ryanair   Ireland 116,625 #11 ~121,000 185,405 #12 130,588 #12 ~103,500 #15
China Southern Air Holding   China 102,078 #13 152,426 153,442 284,900 230,697 ~206,100 189,552 ~148,400
Aeroflot Group   Russia 98,407 #14 100,112 68,014 #11 156,250 #14 97,636 #20
China Eastern Air Holding   China 61,272 #23 108,804 107,302 220,000 183,152 ~167,500 #11 146,291 #11 ~120,400 #11
Air China Group   China 60,354 #24 104,626 109,832 233,178 201,090 ~188,100 171,695 ~142,600
Individual airlines
Rank Airline Country 2022[4] 2021[15] 2020[21] 2019 2018[22] 2017[23] 2016[24] 2015[25] 2014[26] 2013[27] 2012[28] 2011[29]
1 American Airlines   United States 308,065 237,471 123,997 342,510 330,577 323,968 320,044 320,813 208,046 206,551 203,336 203,485
2 United Airlines   United States 305,893 178,499 100,188 342,935 329,562 310,859 299,080 294,970 287,547 286,802 288,282 160,270
3 Delta Air Lines   United States 292,202 195,312 106,488 350,145 330,034 316,378 308,088 302,512 290,862 277,560 271,567 269,724
4 Emirates   United Arab Emirates 225,867 93,799 78,746 299,496 302,298 288,886 270,797 251,190 230,855 209,377 180,880 153,264
5 Ryanair   Ireland ~207,000 120,563 64,928 185,405 170,900 157,114 142,740 125,194
6 Southwest Airlines   United States 199,263 166,631 87,263 211,379 214,561 207,762 200,848 189,097 162,445 145,124 137,708 134,918
7 Qatar Airways   Qatar ~168,000 91,551 57,171 172,591 152,210 #11 137,603 #11
8 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 162,655 86,701 52,206 #11 150,240 #14 145,521 #13 125,098 #14
9 Air France   France 123,444 60,180 #13 48,809 #12 150,870 #13 143,904 #14 136,659 #12 139,217 134,528 136,405 135,821 133,035
10 Lufthansa   Germany 119,363 50,067 #17 37,503 #16 165,945 #11 158,986 152,214 149,702 145,904 143,403 144,236 142,512 140,972
British Airways   United Kingdom 104,496 #12 30,698 #30 38,825 #14 155,252 #12 151,784 #12 144,028 140,780 137,204 130,129 124,318 116,864
China Southern Airlines   China 102,078 #13 109,309 110,650 213,573 200,239 177,458 205,720 189,186 166,074 147,841 135,021 121,944
Qantas   Australia 63,849 #22 10,157 #77 86,199 #24 85,663 #23 120,029 #15 110,203 108,051
China Eastern Airlines   China 61,288 #24 88,677 88,728 186,644 166,282 150,916 138,042
Air China   China 60,355 #25 67,745 #11 71,417 169,030 161,199 146,961 135,464 #13 112,247 -
Continental Airlines‡   United States —‡ 131,583

‡ - marks a defunct airline.


Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions) edit

For broader coverage of this topic, see Cargo airline.
 
FedEx Express is the largest by freight tonne-kilometers.
Rank Airline Country 2022[30] 2021[31] 2020[21] 2019[32] 2018[22] 2017[23] 2016[24] 2015[25] 2014[33] 2013[34] 2012[35]
1 FedEx Express   United States 19,547 20,660 19,656 17,503 17,499 16,851 15,712 15,799 16,020 16,127 16,108
2 UPS Airlines   United States 15,889 15,529 14,371 12,842 12,459 11,940 11,264 10,807 10,936 10,584 10,416
3 Qatar Airways Cargo   Qatar 14,267 16,102 13,740 13,024 12,695 10,999 9,221 7,660 5,997 4,972
4 Emirates SkyCargo   United Arab Emirates 10,153 11,842 9,569 12,052 12,713 12,715 12,270 12,157 11,240 10,459 9,319
5 Korean Air Cargo   South Korea 9,518 10,429 8,104 7,412 7,839 8,015 7,666 7,761 8,079 7,666 8,144
6 Atlas Air   United States 8,675 8,441 5,458 #12 4,522 #16 4,553 #16
7 Turkish Cargo   Turkey 8,318 9,223 6,977 7,029 5,890 #12 4,728 #15 3,640 #20
8 Cargolux   Luxembourg 7,971 8,587 7,345 7,180 7,322 7,322 6,878 6,309 5,753 5,225
9 China Southern Airlines Cargo   China 6,915 8,078 6,591 6,825 6,597 6,174 #11 5,939 #11 5,355 #11 4,736 #12
10 China Airlines Cargo   Taiwan 6,359 7,513 #11 6,317 5,334 #13 5,804 #13 5,741 #12 5,273 #12 5,343 #12 5,266 4,813 4,538
Air China Cargo   China 6,077 #12 7,016 #12 6,121 #11 6,767 #11 7,051 6,701 6,089 5,718 4,910 #11
Cathay Pacific Cargo   Hong Kong 5,774 #13 8,215 8,137 10,930 11,284 10,772 9,947 9,935 9,464 8,241 8,433
Singapore Airlines Cargo   Singapore 5,193 #15 5,462 #16 4,156 #17 6,146 #12 6,491 #11 6,592 6,345 6,083 6,019 6,240 6,694
Lufthansa Cargo   Germany 5,153 #16 5,324 #17 4,828 #15 7,226 7,394 7,317 7,384 6,888 7,054 7,218 7,175

By fleet size edit

Aircraft operated edit

 
Delta Air Lines operates the largest number of aircraft, as of April 2024.
April 2024[36]
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Delta Air Lines[a]   United States 986 [37]
2 American Airlines[a]   United States 967 [38]
3 United Airlines[a]   United States 954 [39]
4 Southwest Airlines   United States 815 [40]
5 China Southern Airlines   China 664 [41]
6 China Eastern Airlines   China 623 [42]
7 SkyWest Airlines[b]   United States 571 [43]
8 FedEx Express[c]   United States 498 [44]
9 Air China   China 494 [45]
10 IndiGo   India 369 [46]
  1. ^ a b c Mainline carrier. Includes mainline (non-regional) fleet only.
  2. ^ Non-mainline (regional) carrier.
  3. ^ Cargo carrier.


Aircraft owned edit

 
China National Aviation Holdings Air China Group has the world's most valuable fleet, despite owning less aircraft than Delta Air Lines, Inc. or American Airlines Group, which co-lead by numbers.
July 2023[47]
Rank Holding company No. Value ($bn)
1 (tie)   American Airlines Group 854   16.7  
1 (tie)   Delta Air Lines, Inc. 854   15.8  
3   United Airlines Holdings 764   17.9  
4   Southwest Airlines 759   16.8  
5   China Eastern Airlines 583   18.5  
6   Air China Group 580   19.0  
7   China Southern Airlines 545   17.3  
8   Ryanair Holdings 529   15.3  
9   SkyWest, Inc. 520   4.5  
10   Lufthansa Group 514   11.7  

Aircraft capacity edit

 
American Airlines leads by capacity to carry passengers.
2022[48]
Rank Airline Country Annual Capacity
1 American Airlines   United States 248,299,958
2 Delta Air Lines   United States 210,132,982
3 Southwest Airlines   United States 208,191,620
4 United Airlines   United States 177,513,595
5 Ryanair   Ireland 169,559,280
6 China Southern Airlines   China 106,602,244
7 China Eastern Airlines   China 101,138,367
8 IndiGo   India 99,449,786
9 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 89,471,060
10 easyJet   United Kingdom 88,142,891

By route network edit

Countries served edit

 
Turkish Airlines serves the largest number of countries, as of February 2024.
February 2024[citation needed]
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 119 [49]
2 Qatar Airways   Qatar 88 [50]
=3 Air France   France 84 [51]
=3 Ethiopian Airlines   Ethiopia 84 [52]
5 Emirates   United Arab Emirates 79 [53]
6 British Airways   United Kingdom 78 [54]
7 Lufthansa   Germany 77 [55]
8 United Airlines   United States 71 [56]
9 KLM   Netherlands 64 [57]
10 American Airlines   United States 63 [58]

Destinations served edit

Main article: List of airlines with more than 100 destinations
 
United Airlines serves the largest number of destinations, as of February 2024.
February 2024[citation needed]
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 United Airlines   United States 357 [56]
2 American Airlines   United States 352 [58]
3 Delta Air Lines   United States 310 [59]
4 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 286 [49]
5 China Southern Airlines   China 238 [60]
6 Ryanair   Ireland 235 [61]
7 Lufthansa   Germany 226 [54]
8 China Eastern Airlines   China 225 [62]
9 British Airways   United Kingdom 208 [55]
10 Air France   France 202 [51]

Routes served edit

 
Southwest Airlines serves the largest number of routes, as of February 2024.
February 2024[citation needed]
Rank Airline Country No. Ref.
1 Southwest Airlines   United States 3,161 [63]
2 Ryanair   Ireland 2,631 [61]
3 American Airlines   United States 1,237 [58]
4 China Eastern Airlines   China 1,051 [62]
5 United Airlines   United States 1,033 [56]
6 Delta Air Lines   United States 975 [59]
7 China Southern Airlines   China 963 [60]
8 Air China   China 641 [64]
9 IndiGo   India 610 [65]
10 Turkish Airlines   Turkey 531 [49]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The World's Largest Public Companies". Forbes.
  2. ^ "Airlines 50 2023". Brand Finance. Brandirectory. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "2023 World Airline Report: Airline Traffic Table". Air Transport World. July/August 2023. Aviation Week Network. 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Traffic table". Flight Global. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Traffic table". Flight Global. 2020.
  6. ^ "Traffic rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  7. ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2019.
  8. ^ a b "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2018.
  9. ^ "World Airline Rankings". Flight Global. 2017.
  10. ^ "Global Air Traffic & Top Airlines 2016 (IATA)". IMM International. 28 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015.
  12. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015.
  13. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
  14. ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012.
  15. ^ a b "Cirium Airline Passenger Rankings for 2021". September 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  16. ^ "Airline top 100 2022". Airfinance Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. ^ "Airlines, Airports and Airliners 2020 full year results" (PDF). France Aviation Civile Services. April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2016)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2015)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Air Transport Yearly Monitor (2013)" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  21. ^ a b "World Air Transport Statistics 2021" (PDF). 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  22. ^ a b "World Air Transport Statistics" (PDF). IATA. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-29.
  23. ^ a b "62nd World Air Transport Statistics" (png). IATA. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2017.[permanent dead link]
  25. ^ a b "Summary of passenger and freight traffic" (PDF). World Air Transport Statistics. IATA. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  26. ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015.
  27. ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
  28. ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
  29. ^ "Scheduled Passenger - Kilometres Flown". World Air Transport Statistics 56th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012.
  30. ^ "Top 25 Cargo Airlines 2022". Air Cargo News. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  31. ^ url=https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/top-25-air-cargo-carriers-for-2021-revealed/
  32. ^ Brett, Damian (29 July 2020). "Top 25 cargo airlines 2019: FedEx retains the top spot as Qatar climbs". Air Cargo News. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  33. ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 59th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015.
  34. ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 58th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
  35. ^ "Scheduled Freight Tonne - Kilometres". World Air Transport Statistics 57th Edition. IATA. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
  36. ^ "Country Index". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  37. ^ "Delta Air Lines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  38. ^ "American Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  39. ^ "United Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  40. ^ "Southwest Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  41. ^ "China Southern Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  42. ^ "China Eastern Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  43. ^ "SkyWest Airlines Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  44. ^ "FedEx Express Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  45. ^ "Air China Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  46. ^ "IndiGo Fleet". Planespotters.net.
  47. ^ "Airline top 100 2023". Airfinance Journal. Vol. 73.
  48. ^ Grant, John (19 December 2022). "An Overview of Airline Capacity from 2019-2022 as the Travel Recovery Continues". OAG.
  49. ^ a b c "Turkish Airlines". ch-aviation.
  50. ^ "Qatar Airways". ch-aviation.
  51. ^ a b "Air France". ch-aviation.
  52. ^ "Ethiopian Airlines". ch-aviation.
  53. ^ "Emirates". ch-aviation.
  54. ^ a b "British Airways". ch-aviation.
  55. ^ a b "Lufthansa". ch-aviation.
  56. ^ a b c "United Airlines". ch-aviation.
  57. ^ "KLM Royal Dutch Airlines". ch-aviation.
  58. ^ a b c "American Airlines". ch-aviation.
  59. ^ a b "Delta Air Lines". ch-aviation.
  60. ^ a b "China Southern Airlines". ch-aviation.
  61. ^ a b "Ryanair". ch-aviation.
  62. ^ a b "China Eastern Airlines". ch-aviation.
  63. ^ "Southwest Airlines". ch-aviation.
  64. ^ "Air China". ch-aviation.
  65. ^ "IndiGo Airlines". ch-aviation.
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